ScuzzBlog: Diaries November 2024 Entry 15th November 2024: Post 1: Amiga SongPlayer and QNX. Amiga SongPlayer and QNX. Today's little adventure started out as one train of research only to be hijacked by another. The first being SongPlayer. OK I read on one of the forums about a guy struggling to get his SongPlayer software running on a 1.3 Workbench. I was pretty sure the software needed to the MUI libraries. So I kicked out my AF subscribers disk 120 loaded it up using WB3 and sure enough it needed the MUI libraries to use the GUI. I posted a message on the forum but the guy had already had a few replies helping him along. However, in checking the Amiga Format magazine for February 1999 that featured Subscribers disk 120 I got drawn into the history of the failed QNX operating system for the Amiga that ultimately gave birth to OS4. Sadly the EAB site has no images of the February 1999 Amiga Format nor does it have the BackStage edition giving info on the coverdisk. I was forced to search through my Amiga magazine towers and also pull the Amiga Format CD off the shelf. Whilst the SongPlayer software was kinda interesting I spent some time reading up on my Amiga history, as you do. 1997 QNX Software Systems were contracted by Gateway to create a desktop operating system. This was to be based on the embedded QNX Neutrino micro-kernel. At the time there was renewed hope for the Amiga. The software was to use the Motorola PowerPC chips. The aim being to avoid Microsoft and Intel. The chips being the G3 and G4 chips and had readied single, dual and even quad processor machines. Unfortunately just as the testing entered alpha, QNX reported a snag with the Gateway PowerPC boards. The blame was neither accepted by Gateway or QNX. This was further complicated by QNX focussing their efforts on the Neutrino project first and Amiga second, much to the annoyance of Gateway. The conclusion to this conflict was for Gateway to default QNX on its contract and ultimately return to the more conventional OS 4 using AmigaOne Partners. So what happened to QNX.. who cares ? Hang on a minute. Over at amiga-news.de there are reports that on 12th November this year that QNX SDP 8 has been released free for non-commercial use. Seriously. Interestingly there was a very early release of the OS which ran on a single 1.4MB PC floppy disk. The link details are in the last few images on this blog. So where was I. Oh yes. SongPlayer... needs MUI. M'kay. You can download the Subscribers Disk from the EAB Magazine Rack if you get desperate. Or not. That was fun. Amiga SongPlayer and QNX.

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Last updated 15th November 2024

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